


Ghost

by kirani



Series: Heart Murmurs [4]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Angst, Crying, Gen, Unhappy Ending, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-16
Updated: 2020-12-16
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:53:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28118757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kirani/pseuds/kirani
Summary: Justin hadn't meant for it to happen, but he could still try to fix it.
Relationships: Adam "Holster" Birkholtz & Justin "Ransom" Oluransi, Adam "Holster" Birkholtz/Justin "Ransom" Oluransi
Series: Heart Murmurs [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1825399
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	Ghost

**Author's Note:**

> based on the song Ghost by jeremy messersmith

Been so long since I've been gone  
Doubt if you'll know me at all  
Downpour  
Did I make you proud?

\- Ghost, jeremy messersmith

Justin hadn’t meant for it to happen, but once he went to med school, he and Adam just… drifted apart. 

There was no big fight, no tearful goodbye, just bro hugs and promises to keep in touch and “New York really isn’t that far from Boston we’ll still hang out all the time!” and then they just...

Didn’t.

Because when one of you is a consultant for a demanding firm and the other of you is a first year med student, there’s not a lot of free time for visiting. The few times they did make it to the same city, one or both of them had to work on something for most of the time anyways, and the rest was just feeling guilty or reminiscing. 

They made no new memories. 

There was a time when Justin and Adam had nothing but new memories, but now? Now Justin was about to start his third year of med school and Adam just got promoted and of course he’d texted him a congratulations but they hadn’t really  _ talked _ in a while. 

Which is why it was absolutely insane that he had reprogrammed his phone to direct him to Boston halfway across New York State from home, and was now sitting in Boston traffic panicking and trying to remember if Adam had moved or if he was still living at Haus 2.0. Shitty and Lardo were at least. Right? 

It had been too long, he shouldn’t have let this happen, but driving across New York and not turning towards Boston had been impossible. He had to see him. He missed Adam like a lung. 

Finally, he parked in front of the old house and took a deep breath before jogging up the stairs and knocking on what used to be his home. 

Lardo opened the door and shrieked then immediately hugged him. 

“Bro, what are you doing here? I didn’t know you were in town!” 

“Unplanned stop. Listen, is Adam here?”

Lardo studied his face for a moment and must have found what she was looking for, because she nodded and stepped back to let him in. 

“Holster?” 

Justin followed her gaze as a blond head with an unfamiliar haircut looked up from the couch. The moment Adam recognized him, he leapt to his feet and across the room like the Golden Retriever he was, and Justin laughed as they hugged for the first time in… how long had it been?

“What are you doing here?” Adam asked, his face still buried in Justin’s shoulder. Then, quieter, “I missed you.”

“I missed you, too,” Justin admitted. “I’m so sorry.”

“What?” Adam leaned back to look at him. 

“I’m sorry I let us drift apart. If I hadn’t gone off to med school —.”

“Rans, no,” Adam cut him off. “It’s my fault. You had this big new thing and I should have tried harder.”

“Call it mutual?” Justin offered.

“Fine. Mutual. So what brings you to town?”

“I just wanted to see you.”

“You did?” Adam looked confused, but Justin barreled on.

“Yeah, look, I —,” Justin took a deep breath. “Adam I love you. I’ve loved you since frog year and I hate not talking to you anymore and I want it back. I want you back. If you’ll have me.”

Adam blinked. “Do you mean, like as best friends forever?”

“I was hoping for something else…” Justin trailed off, realizing he was about to get turned down and he still had to drive another four hours to get to campus.

“Rans, I have a boyfriend.”

Justin blinked away the tears suddenly welling in his eyes.

“Right. I’ll just get out of your way, then.”

“Wait, Justin!” Adam grabbed his arm. “Why didn’t you say something?”

Justin wiped his eyes on his forearm before letting himself be turned back to Adam. “I was scared. And then I felt guilty. And then it was too late.”

“I’m sorry.”

Justin shook his head. “Just, tell me something?”

“Anything,” Adam promised.

“Are you proud of me?” Justin asked, tears breaking free again. 

“I’m so proud, so unbelievably proud of you, Justin.” Tears were starting to appear in Adam’s eyes now, too. 

“That’s enough, then,” Justin said, and let himself out the door.

**Author's Note:**

> look i'm sorry. yell at me on tumblr at willdexpoindexter  
> [this fic on tumblr](https://willdexpoindexter.tumblr.com/post/637705209482788864/ghost)


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